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A goal in the final seconds of the game has salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Brisbane Roar against the Melbourne Victory.
It was end to end football in the first half with both sides not afraid to venture forward with Victory edging possession and number of shots.
Despite having less of the ball, it was the Roar however that looked more threatening with Lawrence Thomas twice coming out of his box to clear dangerous balls.
Corey Brown did find the back of the net for the Roar in the first half after a neat ball from Brett Holman only for the offside flag to deny the goal.
Holman was particularly dangerous for the hosts in the opening 45 getting himself into good positions only for his two shots to go wide.
The second-half lacked the intensity of the first with a flurry of yellow cards slowing down proceedings. Two of these were handed to Roar captain Matt McKay who was given his marching orders in the 66th minute.
Against ten men, the Victory pushed forward and eventually found the opening goal in the 83rd minute through Mitch Austin. The winger reacting quickest to a Ben Khalfallah cross to drill a low shot through Michael Theo.
With the game seemingly over, Brisbane then somehow managed to salvage a point in the fifth and final minute of injury time. A Tommy Oar free-kick was headed repeatedly in the Victory box before Luke De Vere somehow got a foot to the ball and looped it over a crowd of players and into the Victory net.
A fittingly dramatic way to open the A-league season with both sides likely disappointed to start their campaigns with just a point but the Victory particularly disheartened to concede so late against ten men.
Final Score:
Brisbane Roar 1
Melbourne Victory 1
The twelfth A-League season gets underway tonight with two potential heavyweights in the Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory going head to head. Join us on The Roar from 7:50pm (AEDT) for all of the action as the season kicks off at Suncorp Stadium.
After falling one game short of the grand final last season and one point short of the Premiers Plate, Brisbane Roar will be eager to go that one extra step to success this season. Despite off-field drama, John Aloisi has assembled quite a strong side that combines sheer experience with talented youngsters.
Bringing in Australian veteran Brett Holman, Danish midfielder Thomas Kristensen and defender Manuel Arana, all of whom are in their 30s, gives the Roar a solid foundation to build from.
With a youthful but skilful attacking trio in Jamie Maclaren, Tommy Oar and Brendon Borrello, all in their early 20s, they are sure to cause a number of defensive headaches.
One team they’ll be hoping to do just that to is the Victory, the side who denied the Roar the Premiers Plate last season as they held them to a nail-biting goalless draw in the final regular game of the season.
Although scraping into the finals last season after finishing sixth, it was an unremarkable season for the Victory.
After several high-profile departures including Kosta Barbarouses, Gui Finkler, Archie Thompson, Matthieu Delpierre (retired), Thomas Deng and Danny Vukovic, Kevin Muscat has had to recruit wisely to ensure Victory avoid another forgettable season.
The return of talented duo James Troisi and Marco Rojas was an ideal start for Muscat who also added James Donachie, Mitch Austin and Alan Baro to his off season recruits.
While missing out on Michael Essien was a blow for the side on and off the pitch, the seeds of a strong side have been sewn.
It may be the start of the season but there will still be a few missing faces from this clash. Roar will be without Dimitri Petratos who is out with an ankle injury while Connor O’Toole is on international duty.
For the Victory, Marco Rojas won’t be returning to the A-league arena just yet as he sits out through international duty while Rashid Mahazi is out through illness.
Prediction: Draw, 2-2.
In what’s shaping up to be an ideal clash to start the A-league season, join us on The Roar from 7:50pm (AEDT) to see whether the Brisbane Roar or Melbourne Victory can start it right.
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